China’s Economic Challenges and Stock Markets

Ongoing coronavirus outbreak caused many problems for the second-largest economy in the world. The virus outbreak continues to affect the stock markets.

Chinese authorities are trying to stabilize the situation. The country is planning targeted tax cuts.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Finance made the decision to spend 8 billion yuan. The government will allocate the funds as part of the second round of support.

As of Friday, the ministry allocated 90.15 billion in support based on the information provided by the central government.

Moreover, economists expect the People’s Bank of China to ease funding conditions in Chinese money markets. This move would allow countering the risks created by the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. Stock markets should also benefit from such decisions.

Stock markets on Monday

On February 17, markets traded mixed in Asia as investors closely monitored the situation to access the economic impact of this virus. Unfortunately, the number of infected surpassed 70,000.

Nevertheless, mainland Chinese stocks strengthened their positions. The Shanghai Composite added 2.28% to 2,983.62. Meanwhile, the Shenzhen composite gained 3.18% to 1,835.96. The Shenzhen component rose 2.98% to 11,241.50.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.58% during the final hours of trading.

In Japan, stock indexes failed to deal with problems. The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.69% to 23,523.24. Moreover, the Topix index declined 0.89% to 1,687.77. Based on the government’s data, the Japanese economy shrank at an annualized pace of 6.3% in the last quarter of 2019.

In Australia, the ASX 200 index closed fractionally lower at 7,125.10.

South Korea’s Kospi index dropped 0.06% to 2,242.17.

China’s economy was struggling before the virus outbreak. However, the current situation created even bigger problems for the country. In this situation, it is not surprising that stock markets across the region have to deal with side effects. The virus reached all regions of China. Chinese officials are working hard to contain the outbreak. However, it won’t be easy to mitigate the results caused by this virus.